They exchanged a few messages on Tuesday as well. Aaron was pulled away from his vacation to come into work, and Jay tried to lighten the mood with some jokes. At the time,Aaron seemed to appreciate the levity, but that was their last conversation before the radio silence.
Like a clingy boyfriend, Jay kept messaging. He asked Aaron about his touristy adventures, talked about his day, then shared a few memes.
No response.
It was worrying. Sure, Aaron was busy with his guests, but he’d always responded to Jay’s texts within a few hours, even if just with a smiley face.
What did this sudden silence mean? Was Aaron tired of Jay and his constant need for attention?
Finally cracking, he looked Aaron up on social media. It didn’t take long to find Aaron’s accounts. Every platform was mostly bare, but among his friends, he found Mark, whose feed was full of him and Aaron with their arms around each other. The last selfie had been posted less than an hour ago.
“Are you okay?” Shaniah leaned against the corner of his desk and looked at him with concern. “You’re staring at your phone like it owes you money.”
“Nah, I’m just…” Keeping his life private was fine, but he was suddenly desperate to talk to someone about Aaron. “Do you want to grab some lunch?”
“Only if it’s tacos. Otherwise, I have a perfectly fine Cup O’ Noodles at my desk.”
“I’ll buy you some tacos.” Jay launched himself out of his seat, still holding his phone, then changed his mind and set it on the desk. “I need life advice.”
Shaniah walked them three blocks to a tiny taqueria, where she waved at the woman behind the counter, who greeted them in Spanish.
“That’s the owner, Lucia,” Shaniah told him before switching over to stilted Spanish. “Hola, Lucia!”
Jay’s gaze was drawn to the vibrant, colorful paintings of dancing figures hanging along the walls, a stark contrast to the wobbly plastic chairs and chipped tables underneath. The air was thick with the smell of spiced meat and fried onions. Behind him, the conversation carried on, Shaniah’s slow, deliberate words followed by Lucia’s melodic flow.
“No salsa or anything with tomatoes,” Jay reminded her. He tried to catch any familiar words as she talked, but his two college semesters of a foreign language were a hazy memory by now.
“You speak great Spanish,” he pointed out once they sat down.
“My vocabulary is vast when it comes to ordering delicious food.” She grinned at him. “So what’s going on with you?”
Despite the smile on her face, concern lingered in her eyes. She was a good friend. They met when she joined ZonTech only a few years after Jay, and they’d weathered the company’s ups and downs side by side. Guilt prickled at him as he imagined her reaction to his promotion. It wouldn’t be announced until next week, and Erica had asked him to keep it under wraps, but Shaniah deserved to know. Hell, she deserved the job more than he did.
“Erica offered me the senior developer role,” he blurted out.
“I know. She told me. Actually, she asked for help in convincing you to take it.”
“I did take it.” He paused. “She should have offered it to you. You’d do a much better job.”
Shaniah barked out a laugh. “I don’t think so. It’s sweet of you to say, but I’m nowhere near ready to be a manager.”
“Neither am I. I have no idea why she asked me instead of just hiring someone who’s qualified.”
She gave him a long look. “Do you remember when I first joined the team? I came to you with questions all the time, and you always helped me out.”
“Of course I did. We all did. It’s part of being a team.”
“Uhh, no. I mean, I went to Dev and Rob and the other guys too, and they were…nice enough about it, but they always made me feel bad for not getting it right away. You didn’t. You were patient, and you kept explaining the same things to me over and over until I understood, without ever complaining or making me feel stupid.”
“I’m sure they didn’t mean to make you feel that way.”
“They didn’t.” Her eyes gleamed with warmth. “But they also didn’t hide their impatience, so I stopped going to them. I came to you, and you trained me until I was good enough to work on my own.”
Jay leaned away from the table, suddenly uncomfortable with the praise. “I’m glad I helped, but I’m not sure how any of this is relevant.”
“Oh boy, you’re an idiot.” Shaniah sighed and shook her head. “That’s basically what being a manageris. Being the person people can go to when they need help, without worrying about being judged or losing their jobs. You know, helping your team succeed?”
Jay considered what she was saying. In his mind, managers were assertive, confident people who made hard decisions, but was that actually the case? Erica was a great manager, and she was down-to-earth and approachable. Their CEO was busy most of the time, but he always made an effort to let them know his door was open if they needed anything.
